Brotherhood Alliance calls on China to end Myanmar junta’s airstrikes on civilians

An alliance of ethnic armed groups opposed to Myanmar’s military regime has called on China to intervene to end the junta’s deadly airstrikes in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region. In a statement released on Tuesday, the three-member Brotherhood Alliance accused the military of deliberately targeting civilian areas outside of active combat zones in territories captured by its opponents. “We urge the international community, particularly our neighbour, the People’s Republic of China, to intervene and halt the military junta from committing atrocities, including the bombing of civilian towns and villages with fighter jets, which has resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians,” the statement said. The call came a day after an air raid on a market in Kutkai, a town controlled by alliance member the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) since last December, left at least six people dead. The TNLA and its two main allies, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakha Army (AA), have been engaged in a major offensive against the regime since October of last year. Although a Chinese-brokered ceasefire put that offensive on hold in January, clashes resumed on June 25, resulting in a string of defeats for the junta’s overstretched forces. So far, the second phase of the offensive has seen forces led by the Brotherhood Alliance seize control of Nawnghkio, Mongmit (Momeik), Lashio, and Kyaukme in northern Shan State and Singu and the ruby-mining town of Mogok in Mandalay Region. In response, the regime has been carrying out retaliatory airstrikes targeting civilian areas, including markets, hotels and schools, the MNDAA said in a statement released over the weekend. The group, also known as the Kokang Army, said that junta warplanes have carried out at least 10 airstrikes in Kutkai, Hsenwi, and Laukkai in northern Shan State in response to its recent losses. On July 18, an airstrike on a market in Hsenwi, south of Kutkai, killed eight people. Ten days later, another attack on the MNDAA-controlled town left an elderly woman and a three-year-old child dead, according to the Ta’ang Women’s Organisation. Laukkai, the administrative centre of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, has been hit multiple times since the MNDAA launched its offensive for control of Lashio, northern Shan State’s largest city, in early July. MNDAA-led forces captured the city on Saturday. Aerial assaults on villages in Mandalay Region’s Singu Township have also taken a heavy toll on civilians. Two days of airstrikes that began on Sunday killed 15 people, including two children, according to the Mandalay People’s Defence Force (MDY-PDF). Singu Township has been targeted relentlessly since it fell to the MDY-PDF, which operates under the command of the publicly mandated National Unity Government, on July 17. “They’re deliberately wreaking havoc. They’re just doing this to take vengeance for losing control of Singu,” said one woman.

Brotherhood Alliance calls on China to end Myanmar junta’s airstrikes on civilians

The anti-regime ethnic alliance says the military is deliberately targeting civilians in retaliation for its recent losses

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